Add all the ingredients except the lemon juice to a saucepan and allow the sugar to dissolve over medium-low heat
Let it simmer until the sugar syrup thickens
Set aside and mix in the lemon juice
Let it cool and store in the fridge for atleast a few hours or preferably overnight
For the dough
Rub the cold butter into the flour and salt and mix until it resembles coarse sand.
Make a well in the centre and pour the milk and add the egg.
Knead for 5-8 minutes until the dough is smooth
Wrap in clingfilm and store in the fridge for atleast an hour
After an hour, take out the dough and roll it on a lightly floured surface to form a rectangle, around 6-8mm thick
Cut the rectangle into 5cm wide strips and then cut it in half again into smaller rectangles - around 3-5 cm wide
Take each rectangle and cut it into 3 equal portions, leaving the top portion intact. Braid/plait the strips and fold over the ends to seal. Pinch the top of the braid to form a triangle
To assemble
Keep the sugar syrup on a bowl of iced water. *See notes
Fill a wok or deep pan with oil and let it heat until a piece of dough added to the oil rises to the top immediately and sizzles with bubbles around it.
Fry the koeksisters in the hot oil. When they rise to the top, carefully flip them over and fry until they are golden brown
Immediately, add the fried koeksisters to the cold sugar syrup and toss over until the syrup coats the koeksisters
Let it rest over a cooling rack to cool and let the excess syrup drain out
Store in the fridge and serve cold.
Notes
The sugar syrup should be really cold when adding the koeksister, otherwise it will not soak up the syrup
Divide the syrup into couple of bowls and take out only 1 bowl at a time so that you can swap it for colder ones should the syrup become warm as you are adding the hot koeksisters.
It is best to prepare the sugar syrup the previous night and let it chill in the fridge overnight.